Essay Sample on Thousands of Kids Accessing Pesticides: An Alarming Reality

Every year, there are an estimated 10,000 children in the United States only that easily access various forms of pesticides according to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency and this is quite an alarming figure considering the adverse effects that these pesticides pose to a child's health (Robert McClure, Environmental Health News, 2010). Several scenes have been documented whereby a child experiences severe diarrhea and vomiting as a result of consuming the poison since they do not know what it is and their caretakers have left rodenticides where the kids can reach. Other very common symptoms include sudden breakouts of fever, bright-colored green stool and even blisters on the hand that touched the rat poison.

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There was an incident where an emergency physician reported a case where a 22-month-old boy had consumed an unknown amount of rat poison that contained brodifacoum which is a long-acting blood thinner (Forrester, 2010). The child was exposed to the rodenticide after the parents had left it lying around. The good thing is that the child had consumed it 1-2 hours before the report and so the first recommendation was that the child is given activated charcoal which is similar to the common charcoal but has been made specifically to prevent absorbing of the ingested poisons.

Brodifacoum is known to not cause bleeding until after several hours and hence the Poison Control advised rechecking of blood clotting for 24 and 48 hours. The child's nervous system, gastrointestinal tract, and muscles were affected but after ingestion of activated charcoal, the initial prothrombin time was abnormally prolonged and after 24 hours of no bleeding or change, the boy was sent home. If an adult had ingested the same amount of poison, the effects would be less since the bodyweight is higher (Forrester, 2010). However, these exposures could have been avoided if the poison would have been kept in a safe place away from children's reach.

Another incident was recorded in Cape Town where a 10-month-old baby ingested a harmful rodenticide which unfortunately led to his demise ("Baby's death caused by rat poison," 2015). The child was exposed to the poison pellets when he was playing around the house and stumbled upon the plate behind the cupboard. After the ingestion, he began to vomit meaning that his gastrointestinal tract was heavily affected and upon arrival to the hospital the baby was pronounced dead. This would have been a different outcome if an adult had consumed this poison because according to the bodyweight ratio difference, it would take about four times the amount the child ingested for it to cause death to an adult, otherwise, the amount the child ingested would cause vomiting and diarrhea among several side effects to the nervous system.

According to numerous research, most of the incidences of rodenticide poisoning in children occur as a result of keeping the pesticides in places which children can easily access and since they look edible, a child's instincts will show tell them to ingest the pellets. If the pellets are properly kept and hidden away from children, then there would be lesser cases unlike what the Environmental Protection Agency is saying. The 10,000 children affected annually as a result of rodenticides can be reduced if they are properly hidden from children's' reach, or better yet, another alternative to be sought that like the use of rodent traps or other means (Robert McClure, Environmental Health News, 2010). Cleaning of the area around one's vicinity will also not entertain the presence of rodents as well as avoiding food sources around the house that may attract rodents. These recommendations will help there not to be the need for rodenticides in the first place but if need be, the most suitable way to get rid of them is to set traps instead of poisons

References

Baby's death caused by rat poison. (2015, October 28). Retrieved from https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Babys-death-caused-by-rat-poison-20151028

Forrester, M. B. (2010). Pediatric Metaxalone Ingestions Reported to Texas Poison Control Centers, 2000-2007. Pediatric Emergency Care, 26(1), 15-18. doi:10.1097/pec.0b013e3181c330dc

Robert McClure, Environmental Health News. (2010, December 14). Rat Poisons Endanger 10,000 Children Every Year in the U.S. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rat-poisons-endanger-10000-children/